Thread cores



C. K. DUNLAP THREAD CORES Filed March 8, 1937 unuuuunnuuunulu HHHWMMADUHHHA. A. .un

June 20, 1939.

Patented June 20, 1939 UNITED STATES THREAD comas Charles K. Dunlap, Hartsville, S. C., assignor to Sonoco Products Company, Hartsville, S. C'., av corporation of South Carolina,

Application March 8, 1937, Serial No. 129,763

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to cores for supporting packages of thread or yarn in the textile industry and particularly to tubular paper cores for supporting such packages while being sub- 5 jected to the action of dye liquids in dyeing processes.

The advantages of the paper tube or thread core over cores of this type fabricated of other materials are substantial, the paper core being lighter in weight than metal or wooden cores, rugged and much less costly. It is desirable to provide, in the fabrication of paper cores of this type, as well as in the fabrication of cores or tubes made of other materials, some means 5 whereby the dye liquid made use of in the dyeing process may be brought into intimate contact in sufficient quantity with the inner convolutions of the thread package to ensure that these inner convolutions are adequately dyed. jWhere the inner windings of thread lie upon a cylindrical thread receiving surface of a supporting core, and the dye liquid is forced outwardly through the walls of the core through a plurality of spaced apertures, those portions of the thread 19.5 package which lie next to the core and between the perforations therein are frequently found to be of a diiferent shade than the remainder of the package because having less contact with the dye liquid. Various ways have been'suggested by means of which the dye liquid may be caused to flow along the thread receiving surface of the core and to thereby reach all portions of the inner windings of thread and the present invention has for its principal object the provision of a core having such a means incorporated therewith. The novel thread core hereinafter to be described in detail, however, is a departure from prior practice in that the thread receiving surface is spaced outwardly from the body of the core and may be said to comprise a large number of spaced thread receiving surfaces of small size, the spaces intermediate such surfacesreadily permitting iiow of dye liquid in streams parallel to the body of the core so as to reach all portions of the inner surface of the thread package. While the novel thread core may be formed in various ways I prefer to fabricate it in the manner hereinafter specified so that the finished core is Substantially as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, however, that the form of invention which is set forth by way of example, while a preferred form, may be modified in minor respects without departure from the invention, and

that the process of manufacture may likewise be changed to suit the convenience of manufacture. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a principal View of a blank from which the novel paper core is made; Y

Figure 2r is a side elevation of a core, formed 5' from theblank of Figure 1, prior to the formation of perforations therein;

Figure 3 shows in side elevation the core in Figure 2 but' fully perforated, the outline of a thread package mounted on such core being dialo grammatically indicated in chain lines;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of portion of the score on a larger scale; land Figure 5 is asection on line 5--5 of Figure 4.

The blank from which, the tubular core is fabricated comprises a rectangular sheet of paper, indicated at l0 in the drawing. This paper may' be of any suitable grade and for the purpose 'of economy in manufacture the cheaper grades are used, especially grades of paper which 20 maybe deeply or heavily embossed without excessive breakage of the fiber orrupture ofthe sheet. One 'end of the sheet, indicated at Il, is subjected to the action of embossing means, this M end being either passed between embossing rolls 25 `or pressed between at embossing dies, as found most convenient. In the embossing operation to which this end of the sheet Il is subjected, a plurality of ridges I2 are raised or struck upwardly from the surface of the sheet, these ridges I2 being preferably disposed in parallel rolls, as shown, which rolls extend transverselyy of the sheet. The individual ridges are relatively short and are longitudinally spaced apart, slight gaps being left by the adjacent ends of` adjacent ridges. The ridges of alternate rows are staggered with respect to one another, the gaps between ridges over one row lying opposite the ridges of adjacent rows to either side thereof, also as shown in Figure 1. 40

After the blank is embossed in the manner just described it is wound into the form of a tube by any customary and usual winding operation upon a mandrel, the blank being so wound, however, that the embossed end Il thereof is the 45 last to pass on to the mandrel and also in such manner that the ridges I 2'previous1y formed project radially outwardly from the tube or core thus formed. It will be appreciated, of course, that prior to winding the'tube on the mandrel 50 the blank is coated with a suitable adhesive so that the various plies or convolutions of the finished tube are, after the adhesive has set or hardened, securely attached to each other.

A tube formled in the manner just described is 55 illustrated in Figure 2. This tube is then perforated by means of any suitable perforating apparatus, a plurality of apertures such as indicated at I3 being formed in the wall thereof through which apertures dye liquid may be passed outwardly from the interior of the tube when the tube is in use as a supporting core for a thread package in a dyeing operation. The perforations I3 may be formed in the tube either before or after the adhesive used has completely dried and preferably are disposed equidistantly over the surface of the tube as indicated in Figure 3. It will be appreciated that the tube as thus formed will not stand up under the action of the dye liquid unless treated, previously to its use, with some hardening solution, and it will be understood that the paper tubes are so treated prior to actual use. The nature of the hardening solution, of which there are a number, forms no portion of the present invention and hence the hardening process and the materials used therein need not be described.

After hardening the tube is ready for use and a thread package may be wound thereon in any of the usual winding machines. From an inspection of Figure 5 it will be perceived that the windings of thread which are rst applied to the tube will not contact with the cylindrical outer surface thereof but will, on the other hand, contact only with the rounded outer surfaces of the ridges I2, bridging the spaces between these ridges, and hence being held in spaced relationship to the cylindrical outer surface of the tube. The thread receiving surface of the tube, as a matter of fact, comprises a multiplicity of relatively small thread receiving surfaces instead of a substantially continuous surface, the outer rounded faces of the ridgesV I2, taken together, comprising the thread receiving surface of the tube or core.

When in use as a supporting core for a thread package such as indicated diagrammatically at I 4 in Figures 3 and 5, dye liquid is introduced under light pressure into the interior of the tube and flows outwardly through the many ports or apertures I3. An outflowing stream of dye liquid passing through any one of the apertures I3 does not come immediately into contact with the inner windings of thread but on the other hand is discharged into a space intermediate the cylindrical surface of the tube and the innermost thread windings,r and is free to flow through this space in all directions, thus having access to al1 areas of the inner surface of the thread package. While it is true of course that the innermost thread windings contact with the rounded outer surfaces of the ridges I2 the area of contact between the ridges and thread windings is com,- paratively small and the dye liquid readily im.- pregnates the portions of the thread winding which actually contact with the supporting ridges so that it may be said that all areas of the inner surface of the thread package are equally subjected to the action of the dye liquid and uniform dyeing of the package results.

The exact shape and arrangement of the outwardly projecting ridges may be Varied as desired but in every instance the ridges or projections should function to maintain the inner thread windings out of substantial contact with the cylindrical surface of the tube intermediate the ridges or, in other words, whatever the form of the ridges, they should function as spacing elements, supporting outwardly of the tube the inner windings of thread which would otherwise Contact with and lie upon its cylindrical surface.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A paper core for supporting a thread package during a dyeing operation comprising a tube having a plurality of convolutions secured together and having a plurality of perforations formed in the wall thereof for the passage of dye liquid, portions of the outer convolution of the tube being outwardly deflected to provide circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending ridges upon which the inner windings of a thread package may rest and be supported, the remaining portions of the outer convolution, intermediate said ridges, resting against and being supported by the next inner convolution of the tube.

2. A paper core for supporting a thread package during a dyeing operation comprising a tube having a plurality of convolutions secured together and having a plurality of perforations formed in the wall thereof for the passage of dye liquid, portions of the outer convolution of the tube being outwardly deflected to provide circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending ridges disposed in longitudinally extending rows, the ridges of each row being separated by gaps for the circumferential flow of liquid, and the gaps of one row being intermediate the ridges of adjacent rows.

Y CHARLES K. DUNLAP. 

